For Combat Veterans Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, “Fear Circuitry” in the Brain Never Rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks.

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Brain Makes Call on Which Ear Is Used for Cell Phone

If you’re a left-brain thinker, chances are you use your right hand to hold your cell phone up to your right ear, according to a newly published study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The study – to appear online in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery – shows a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone.

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Skin Cancer May Be Linked to Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

People who have skin cancer may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to new research published in the May 15, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The link does not apply to melanoma, a less common but more aggressive type of skin cancer.

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Virginia Tech Announces 2013 Football Helmet Ratings; One More Added to the 5 Star Mark

The newly redesigned Xenith X2 joined the Riddell 360, Rawlings Quantum Plus, and Riddell Revolution Speed as the only helmets with a 5 star rating awarded by the Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings™.

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What Impacts Whether African Americans Call 9-1-1 Immediately for Stroke Symptoms?

Strokes rates are high among African Americans, but concerns about medical cost, ambulance response time and unfamiliarity with the need for prompt hospital care impacted whether they called 9-1-1 immediately.

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‘Good Vibrations’! Brain Ultrasound Improves Mood

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques aimed at mental and neurological conditions include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for depression, and transcranial direct current (electrical) stimulation (tDCS), shown to improve memory. Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) has also shown promise.

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Brain-Imaging Study Links Cannabinoid Receptors to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder —Findings Bring First Pharmaceutical Treatment for Ptsd Within Reach—

In a first-of-its-kind effort to illuminate the biochemical impact of trauma, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered a connection between the quantity of cannabinoid receptors in the human brain, known as CB1 receptors, and post-traumatic stress disorder, the chronic, disabling condition that can plague trauma victims with flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability. Their findings, which appear online today in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, will also be presented this week at the annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry in San Francisco.

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Salk Scientists Develop Drug That Slows Alzheimer's in Mice

A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, published May 14 in the journal Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, may pave the way to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease in humans.

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